Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ And so our focus now is on putting in place — is on solutions and putting in place policies, including expediting processing at the border, opening up additional facilities — something that you’ve seen developments on over the past several days, and there’ll be certainly more on — restarting our Central American Minors program, which was stopped in 2017. Thousands of kids should be eligible to apply for that so they’re not making this journey. So our focus is on solutions and implementing them as quickly as possible. ”

“ Well, I think that sometimes there are — there’s language that is used by some that is not complete, including the full context of his comments.I will say that he still believes that he wants our country to be a place where there is asylum processing at the border, where people are considered and go through a proper process — who are fleeing prosecution, who should be considered for immigration status. ”

“ Well, first, let me say, it is difficult to note the people who do not come. That is never a number we will have a mark on. So this is just part of our effort to send a clear message. But there’s no question that funding is needed to address the root causes in these countries. That’s why the President has proposed funding in his immigration bill. ”

“ Well, factually, the vast majority of people who come to the border are turned away. Adults, families, single people who are coming to the border are turned away.So that is a message we will continue to convey through a number of the means I have outlined for you. And the President has also conveyed that directly, as has our Secretary of Homeland Security. And as was noted earlier, there’s obviously a trip to the region as well. ”

“ I mean more so when there are certain capacities at some of these facilities on the border that they’re being released and not being given paperwork about when to, you know, show up. And the migrants who have spoken to our reporters in the border are confused about how to push forward their asylum claims and how to, you know, pursue staying somehow. ”

“ And certainly for any vaccine that’s approved, we would integrate it into our distribution process, you know, equitably. Q Is there the sense that the U.S. would have enough supply from the other three vaccines that the AstraZeneca supply could all be shipped overseas? Would that be a plan from the administration? MS. PSAKI: I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion at this point. There are obviously a number of factors, including the fact that these variants are unpredictable. We’re still at war with the virus. We don’t know which one is going to work best with children. ”

“ Well, again, there are limited cases where there are families — because they can’t be held in Mexico — who are processed, tested, considered at the border. Most of them are sent back to their home countries. Those are very limited cases, and it’s certainly not a depiction of the overarching policy. Q Okay. Two years ago, President Biden said, “We are a nation that says ‘You want to flee, and you’re fleeing opposition, you should come.’ They deserve to be heard. That’s who we are.” ”

“ On the border, you’ve said a few times today that the majority of migrant families are turned away. DHS said, last month, that number was 42 percent. That’s down significantly from, say, last October, when it was over 90 percent. So what’s your threshold for the majority? MS. PSAKI: The majority of people, families, everybody who comes to the border — if you look at those overarching numbers — is turned away. DHS is the right authority for specific numbers and data on all that front, so I’d certainly encourage you to keep talking to them. Q So, also, you are opening up new facilities. ”

“ Q You said that you were finalizing details for press access — MS. PSAKI: Yeah. Q — on these border issues. Can you commit to that happening this week?And since the administration, the President’s brief, lots of different people at different staff level have access to many kinds of photos. Can you provide — although we would prefer independent press coverage, can provide photos to show the public now so we can have more than relying on the congressional delegation?
MS. PSAKI: Well, we are working on independent press coverage. ”

“ We are still at war with the virus.People — 1,400 people are still dying every day. That requires mask wearing. It requires hand washing. It requires social distancing. It requires getting a vaccine when you have access. ”

“ Look, I think our objective is to move — this is one of the reasons this is such a focus every single day for the President and this administration. We want to move these kids as quickly as possible through these facilities and into the shelters where they — where there is safe spacing, and then move them into homes where there is safe spacing.And we are concerned about the public health impact. ”

“ So each country is taking different approaches. Our embassies on the ground are obviously the experts working with countries — to your point, Steve — to figure out how to communicate clearly in languages that are — will be received by the people in these countries and communicate clearly, “This is not the time to come. Our borders are not open.” ”

“ These ads created over 73 million impressions in the targeted countries, and we’re also taking creative approaches in different countries to make sure we’re reaching people, meeting people where they are; in some ways, how we try to do things in the United States. ”

“ The department has also worked with Facebook and Instagram on an advertising campaign that put out — put our migration messages in the social media streams of millions of individuals who fit the profile of intending migrants. These are very targeted, of course. A total of 589 digital ads in paid search, display, and social media supporting the ongoing migration campaign in Northern Triangle countries have reached more than 26 million people since Inauguration Day. ”

“ The President also believes that the Department of Justice is an independent institution. And, of course, there are times where it is appropriate to have conversations, but I don’t have any conversations to preview for you with the Attorney General. Q Thanks. MS. PSAKI: Go ahead. Q As has previously been discussed, there are some families who are being released from facilities into the United States. They’re not being given court dates or paperwork about how to complete the legal process. ”

“ So there’s no change in policy. The border remains closed. Families and single adults are being expelled under Title 42 and should not attempt to cross illegally.In the narrow, narrow circumstances in which families can’t be expelled, the family is tested and quarantined as needed and placed in immigration proceedings to commence. ”

“ And what he has conveyed is that the funding is not the root issue here, that there are larger issues or issues that we have been focused on working through, including processing, identifying additional facilities that we think will help address the challenges we’re seeing at the border. Q Okay. On vaccine distribution: I know that there are these two bilateral deals with Mexico and Canada. I know that you aren’t ready to talk about lots of vaccine sharing around the globe. But do you — is the administration planning to emphasize bilateral agreements on vaccine sharing globally? ”

“ Provide $888 million to deliver expanded access to more fruits and vegetables to moms and babies participating in WIC. $37 million for senior nutrition and $1 billion in nutrition assistance for the territories. It will support farmers of color with $4 billion toward debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers to pay off burdensome debts, and $1 billion in funding to USDA to create a racial equity commission and address longstanding discrimination. ”

“ The “Help Is Here” tour continues today with the Vice President and Second Gentleman traveling to show how the American Rescue Plan provides help to put food on the table.
The Vice President will travel to Jacksonville, Florida, to visit a vaccination center and convene a listening session at a food distribution center. And the Second Gentleman is traveling — I say “is traveling,” not “will travel,” because it’s happening today — to Des Moines, Iowa, where he ”

“ I mean, he’s been briefed multiple times about immigration and often has a number of — and has regular sets of questions for his team. Q So what is his concern about this being a super- spreader event, where you’ve got 400 kids stuffed into a pod built for 260? MS. PSAKI: These kids are tested. If they need to be quarantined, they are quarantined. We also follow CDC guidelines to ensure that they are kept safe. One of the reasons that it took us some time to have some of these facilities or some of the shelters open to larger groups of kids is because we wanted to follow those CDC guidelines. ”